Mothers' Awareness Towards Infantile Colic in Saudi Arabia

Background Infantile colic is defined as severe pain in the abdominal region of a baby primarily due to gastrointestinal implications and is believed to self-resolve with time. Recently established Rome IV criteria of diagnosis state that infantile colic should be diagnosed if there are symptoms like excessive crying, irritability and fussiness. Hence, this study aimed to assess the level of maternal awareness towards infantile colic in Saudi Arabia and to explore the relationship between the level of awareness and different socio-demographic factors like age, gender, nationality, etc. Methodology A cross-sectional study was carried out in Saudi Arabia from February to May 2021. An online self-administered questionnaire via Google Forms was used as the primary data collection tool. The generated link was randomly shared on electronic social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Twitter. Results A total of 425 participants were finally enrolled in the study. One-third of the participants (n=141, 33.2%) were aged more than 40 years and 399 were married (93.9%). Out of a total of 20 points, the mean score of maternal awareness was found to be 13.6±2.5. One-third of the participants (n=143, 33.6%) thought that rocking or carrying the baby would soothe the colic symptoms. Further, 175 participants (41.2%) used pain-relieving drugs and 7.8% sang lullabies. A total of 346 (81.4%) usually got frustrated/exhausted due to excessive crying sessions of the baby. Additionally, those who had received guidelines, educational programs or awareness sessions about the management of colic symptoms in babies had a significant awareness level (P-value = 0.032), while those who had not received education had poorer awareness. Conclusion Nearly one-third of the participants had good knowledge about infantile colic. More than one-third of the participants had previously received educational programs or awareness sessions about the management of colic symptoms in babies. More than half of the participants stated that postnatal maternal depression can occur as a result of infantile colic thereby psychological conflicts occur regarding the maternal role and inconsistent interaction styles with babies. Age, nationality, and marital status did not have a significant effect on the awareness level of the participants.